"I added an Additional box of foundation less frames under the top empty super. That gives them five boxes total so I hope they have enough room for now."

Even a 10 lb swarm should fit in 3 mediums of drawn comb. They'll draw foundation quickly, and need supering sooner than later, but five should be than more than enough room. My strong colonies fit in a 3 medium brood chamber. Exceptional ones sometimes get a 4th, during the main flows, when they are no longer thinking of swarming and have plenty of super space.

05-18-2014, 08:16 PM

NewJoe

Re: Is my swarm queen less. How can I tell?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cottonwood

I have two overwintered hive but unfortunately they are about 2 hours away from the location of the swarm hive so I don't have access to any nectar frames right now. Thanks for the suggestion, I will try that in the next swarm if I have the opportunity.

I actually hived two swarms this year in boxes with nothing but foundationless frames and they stayed and went right to work, and still no sugar water!

05-18-2014, 08:54 PM

Cottonwood

Re: Is my swarm queen less. How can I tell?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Colobee

And then possibly a nice supercedure queen cell. Congratulations!

"I added an Additional box of foundation less frames under the top empty super. That gives them five boxes total so I hope they have enough room for now."

Even a 10 lb swarm should fit in 3 mediums of drawn comb. They'll draw foundation quickly, and need supering sooner than later, but five should be than more than enough room. My strong colonies fit in a 3 medium brood chamber. Exceptional ones sometimes get a 4th, during the main flows, when they are no longer thinking of swarming and have plenty of super space.

Thank you for the feedback. I will give a status report when I do an inspection later this week. Since this was my first swarm, I am on a learning curve.

05-18-2014, 09:08 PM

Cottonwood

Re: Is my swarm queen less. How can I tell?

Quote:

Originally Posted by NewJoe

I actually hived two swarms this year in boxes with nothing but foundationless frames and they stayed and went right to work, and still no sugar water!

This was the first time I have used foundationless frames in a hive. Happy to hear you have had success.